Reversible Cloth Napkins: A Tutorial

After years of saying that I needed more cloth napkins, I finally got around to making some. It was so quick and easy I have been kicking myself for not doing it ages ago. I decided I didn't want to spend any money on them, so I chose to use whatever fabric I had. This means we have a stack of mis-matched napkins, that are not all the same exact size, but I am 100% OK with that. It will give our table a bit of flair...
I should have taken instructional photos to share the process with you, but honestly, it is easy enough that I think a quick explanation will do:

1. Cute 2 pieces of (potentially) coordinating fabric into squares. Most of mine were about 15-inches square, but some of the ones made with children's fabric are a few square-inches smaller, depending on what size scraps I had.

2. Put fabric squares right sides together. Iron flat. Now stitch around the edge (about 1/2" in from edge) leaving a 3-inch opening in the middle of one of the sides (to do this, start sewing about 2-inches above one of the corners and finish when you get about 3 inches from your starting point).

3. Pull napkin through the 3 inch hole you left and use a chopstick or similar tool to push out corners. Your napkin should have the right sides facing out now (and should look suspiciously similar to a napkin!)

4. Iron flat again. Don't be lazy, do it.

5. Top-stitch around the napkin, close to the outer edge. This will give your napkin a clean look and will also close up that 3-inch opening you left earlier.

6. Eat something messy and use!

Note: many people would tell you to pre-wash your fabric before making these and if I were better organized, I may have. But I didn't and I am not stressing it.

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